


Mugs and Memories

by flightinflame



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon Disabled Character, Erik is a Sweetheart, Family Fluff, Gen, Pietro Maximoff Feels, Post-X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), dadneto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:41:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21899827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flightinflame/pseuds/flightinflame
Summary: After Apocalypses's attack, Charles's bruises and cuts had faded to scars, and Pietro's cast was off, and he was back to running around the mansion. Everything was going to plan. Well, almost everything - Erik was still staying.
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr & Pietro Maximoff, Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier
Comments: 16
Kudos: 280
Collections: Brotherhood Of Evil Fandom Gift Exchange





	Mugs and Memories

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nonexistenz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nonexistenz/gifts).



> CW for a mention of past torture and injury, based on Erik's canon backstory.  
> Huge thanks to Lavenderlotion for her help!

Erik smiled faintly at Charles, pulling the blanket around his dozing partner. The past few months after Apocalypse's attack had been tough, but now the school was standing once more, its foundations stronger than they had ever been. The children were excited to celebrate the holidays, Charles's bruises and cuts had faded to scars, and Pietro's cast was off, and he was back to running around the mansion. Everything was going to plan. Well, almost everything - Erik was still staying.

He had thought, at first, that he would simply help rebuild and then clear out, remove himself from the environment and allow Charles to heal without his presence. But it turned out Charles didn't want him to leave.

He didn't have a soul mark, not any more. Another part of his humanity stripped away in his childhood, a scar and a number covering where it should have been. But he remembered what it had said. Even if he hadn't remembered, he would have known, when he first saw Charles, Something about him called out to him. This was the man he was meant for, the man that was meant for him. His own name on Charles's arm confirmed it. To start with, he hadn't commented on it. He'd hoped he could avoid that discussion and the difficulties that it entailed.

But Charles had known, and one night before Cuba he'd reached out across the chessboard, his fingers hovering just above the scar, and looked into Erik's eyes. And Erik had nodded, and they had kissed, and they hadn't finished the game until the morning.

After Cuba, he had left. Of course he had left, when he had ruined everything and had no reason to stay. And in Washington, he'd walked away again, even when it felt painful to leave behind the other half of himself. The better half of himself. Because Erik knew he didn't deserve good things.

But here he was, with Charles in his arms, and he couldn't bring himself to move him away. He pressed a kiss to his forehead, jumping slightly when he heard a knock on the door. He frowned, focusing - there was a belt outside, and a watch. But he kept track all the time to ensure no one could sneak up on them. Which meant that there was only one person who could be outside.  
"Charles?" Erik reached out, shaking his partner gently. "Pietro is outside."

"Oh?" Charles mumbled, made groggy by sleep, and for a moment his eyes closed, before he opened them again and nodded. "Can you open the door for him? He needs to come in and talk to the two of us."

Erik opened the door with a wave of his hand, bracing himself for the worst. The young man before him looked anxious, jittery. So far, he was still visible, but he didn't know how long that would be the case, or when Pietro would be so panicked that he'd zoom away.

Over the past six days, Pietro had been avoiding him. It had started with Pietro running up to him as he ate dinner, pausing in front of him to say "I-am-your-son," and then sprinting away. Erik had done some mathematics, researched Pietro's history, and realised that he was right. And then he'd tried to reach out. 

It was hard. Pietro didn't wear much in the way of metal, which meant he was near impossible for Erik to get a grip on. And when he tried to talk to him, Pietro would run away.

Pietro looked at him, and then at the two of them, and frowned.  
"You're in bed."

"Yes?"

"With the professor?" Pietro frowned. "I really hope you're clothed under that blanket."

"We are. Is there something wrong with your father and I's relationship?" Charles asked, frowning.

"You're a _teacher_!" Pietro protested, clearly shocked. "Oh damn, this is like the teacher I had in eighth grade having a baby all over again, teachers aren't meant to..." He cleared his throat, and then he was gone.

Erik turned to Charles, raising an eyebrow. 

Charles merely shook his head, and held his hand up, counting down by slowly lowering his fingers.

3

2

1

Pietro stood in the doorway.  
"Sorry. Got distracted." He cleared his throat. "Been telling the kids you're my dad." He told Erik, and Erik nodded - that was Pietro's call to make, and if he wanted people to know, he wasn't going to stop him.

Pietro whistled in relief. Erik took a slow breath, and waited for Pietro to work out what it was he wanted to say. Pietro shrugged.

"Look, the kids made up a nickname, and I thought you might like it. Sounds less dumb than Magneto." He held up a mug - one from a dollar store, brightly coloured and with bubble writing declaring "World's BEST Dad". Only Pietro had made his own edit, so rather than that being all the text, at the end Pietro had written "Neto!", meaning that the cup read "World's BEST DadNeto!"

Pietro was chewing on his lip nervously, and Erik smiled.  
"That's great, kid."

"You're sure?" Pietro asked nervously, worrying at his sleeve, where his own soul mark was waiting. 

Erik nodded, reaching out for the mug, turning it over in his hands and then placing it on his bedside cabinet. He swallowed, refusing to allow himself to cry, because Pietro deserved more than that.  
"I'm sure. Thank you."

"I mean. I can't be sure you're a great dad. Probably you aren't the best but like. We can try? And see. And you're the only Dadneto so I guess you're definitely the best there."

"Thanks. I think," Erik muttered, trying to stop his smile from getting too scary. "I love it."

"Great, that's... that's great. I'm really glad. I thought maybe we could... I dunno. Ice cream this week? I like ice cream, do you like ice cream? You should like ice cream."

"I like ice cream," Erik promised, and Pietro nodded.

"Perfect, we can get ice cream then," Pietro suggested, and then zipped away.

Erik stared at the space where his son had been, and then grabbed his mug, turning it over in his hands. After everything he had lost, he'd been so sure that he would never get the chance at a family, and yet here it was - even if it wasn't entirely real. Even if Charles only stayed because of their bond, he still had so much more than he could ever have dreamed of.

 _No._ Charles's voice was sharp in his mind, and he reached to give Erik's hand a reassuring squeeze. "I'd love you regardless of if you were my soulmate, Erik. I'd want you here. And the children, the school... all of it. You rebuilt this place, Erik. I am honoured to be your soulmate. You are one of the best men I have known, and I want you here for the rest... for us to spend our lives together."

Erik nodded, moving to curl up against Charles, needing to hold him close and keep him safe until he calmed, Charles's fingers brushing through his hair. He opened his eyes, looking at his name on Charles's skin, and knew that he belonged.


End file.
